By Victoria Raimes

Last updated at 13:07, Monday, 12 January 2009

A family whose home was devastated by the Carlisle floods today learn whether botched building work means they will have to move out – four years after the property was swamped by five feet of water.

Carolynn Travis, 47, her husband Steven and children Sarah, 14, and Michael, 18, may yet again be forced to spend months in temporary accommodation because cowboy builders have left their house uninhabitable.

Since the 2005 floods, they have endured numerous problems with the Victorian house on Warwick Road including faulty door and window fittings, mould and damp.

And Carolynn made a shocking discovery when a chunk of plasterboard fell off the wall in the downstairs bathroom – a bottle of urine had been left behind it.

She said: “The workmanship and attitude of the builders was appalling. Our house is not suitable for living in. Every bit of timber downstairs has to be taken out and we have had to strip the plaster up to the ceiling. Pipes have also been built into the walls, which we are told isn’t supposed to happen. Apparently it corrodes them.

“We had mould and damp in the downstairs bathroom because the builders put a nail through one of the pipes. The plasterboard started peeling off and we found a bottle of urine behind it.”

Carolynn also said the building company, from Manchester, tried to pass off their old doors as new ones and used cheap materials to replace the fittings. The family will receive a report today from the surveyor and loss adjuster assessing the damage. Further work is due to start in weeks.

There may be no alternative but to move the Travis family out of their home because of problems with mould and damp, which means the whole downstairs floor may have to be pulled up. Carolynn said: “It's just ridiculous. We’re infested with damp and there is green mould growing on the skirting boards in the living room. We've already had to replace the boiler because it had no Corgi certificate and four years later we still haven't received Fensa certificates for the windows. It means we can’t even sell the house.”

Their problems have now led the Travis family to contact a financial ombudsman.

• Another Warwick Road resident is also experiencing problems four years on. Claire Brotherhood, 37, cannot light the fire in her dining room because the builders sealed the fireplace with flammable material.

First published at 11:28, Monday, 12 January 2009
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk